Method of making knitted fabric



March 8, 1960 R. 1.. T. CONNORS 2,927,446

METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Original Filed May '7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F16. F16. 2 F16. .3.

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' INVENTOR.

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March 8, 1960 R. L. T. CONNORS 2,927,446

METHOD OF MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Original Filed May 7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 N INVENTOR.

P052797 1. 7T Ca/v/vom a QM 4 A TTO/QNE KS air/ 46 METHOD or MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Robert L. T. Connors, Tonawanda, N.Y., assignor to Van Raalte Company, Inc., North Tonawanda, N.Y.

Original application May 7, 1958, Serial No. 733,705. and this application April 29, 1959, Serial No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 66--87) As is well known in the art, Simplex machines employ:

two sets of needles and produce double faced fabric. Two sets of Warp threads are involved in the knitting process and guide bars move the threads of each set laterally with respect to the needles. In knitting multiwaled fabrics the guide bars move laterally in step by step fashion so that a given warp thread is passed from needle to needle in a transverse direction for a given number of stitches depending on the pattern wheel of the machine. 9

During this phase of operation the two guide bars move in generally opposite lateral directions and after the aforesaid given number of stitches the two guidev bars reverse their relative lateral step by step movement so that, in effect, a given warp thread is passed back along the needle bars from needle to needle. When this reverse movement of the guide bars equals the first range of movement the guide bars again reverse and the cycle is continuously repeated.

This point of reversal of movement of the guide bars and the consequent reversal of a given warp thread in the resultant fabric is known as the changeover. the purpose of this specification we shall refer to the stitches produced at the time of the reversal of the guide bars as changeover stitches and other stitches, produced while the guide bars are moving generally laterally between changeovers, shall be referred to as intermediate stitches.

Present Simplex warp knitting machines and methods overs, this objectionable changeover line willappeai every eighteen courses along the fabric.

These changeover lines and the mirror the panels of fabric between the changeovers are well recognized defects and objections in warp knit fabrics produced on Simplex machines by conventional methods but have heretofore been considered as necessary evils which could not be avoided within practical limitations. Various extraneous steps have been taken. to render these defects-less apparent by various after treatments of the fabric.

As is well known in the knitting art, fabrics produced on Simplex machines are inherently double faced fabric and the foregoing phenomena are most noticeable at the For effects of States Patent zlz'iii although it is well known that the changeover lines are also discernible at the side of the fabric which is oppo are such that the type of stitch inherent in the change 5o site to the changeover side.

Despite the vexatiousness of the above condition and its long standing, no satisfactory method has been evolved for eliminating these changeover lines.

lines or reduce their visibility, but these proposals have been mere makeshifs such as finish treatment of the fabric by brushing or the like to hide the lines. No prior knitting procedure of which I am aware has been proposed which deals directly with the circumstances whihc produce the above defects, namely, the stitch forms employed in the changeover stitches and the intermediate stitches as compared with each other.

The present invention recognizes the fact that the appearance of the changeover lines in the fabric are due to differences in the stitch forms employed in' the changeover stitches and the intermediate stitches, re-' spectively. The present invention provides a warp knitting method and a resultant fabric wherein the respecltive stitch forms and stitch arrangements are such that differences in the stitches along the changeover linestare practically indiscernible. Speaking generally, this is accomplished by employing changeover and intermediate stitch forms which are of sufiiciently the same type and character as to result in fabric wherein the changeover and intermediate stitches are visually indis-- tinguishable.

Still speaking generally, and by way of illustrating the basic principles of the invention, a common warp knitting method practiced on Simplex machines com prises a stitch sequence wherein the stitches between changeovers, that is, the intermediate stitches, comprise.-

usual paired open loops, and it is found that this rela-' tively simple and practical expedient produces a warp knitted fabric which is free of changeover lines and mirror effects for all practical purposes' 'lheo'reticallyl this might be achieved by forming all. closed loops in the intermediate stitches of one warp during a cornplete lateral traversal of one of the guide bars and-all.- open loops in the intermediate stitches of the other warpduring the accompanying traversal of the other guide This would produce a fabric wherein each intermediate stitch consists of an open and a closed loop. However, this introduces problems of yarn tension.and.-. non-uniform yarn consumption and related complexities bar.

due to the greater amount of yarn or thread required for forming closed loops. to form alternate closed and open loops in the thread of each warp, with such loops staggered so that each intermediate stitch at a given side of the fabric consist of a closed loop and an open loop. i

It may be stated here that this specification is directed to those skilled in the knitting art and that, in the interests of simplicity, the present invention and its variaside of the fabric at which the changeover stitches occur,

tions and combinations are described and defined in terms of the stitch forms that are or may be-employed. ,The

mined readily by one skilled in the warp knitting art and Patented Mar. 8, 1960 Many proposals and attempts have been made to hide these It is accordingly preferable 3.. particularly by those familiar with Simplex knitting machine or knitting machines employing the same or similar knitting principles and procedures.

In a preferred form of the present invention the pattern wheel of the knitting machine is so formed that successive intermediate stitches between changeovers consist of combinations of open and closed loops, with the changeover stitches fitting into this alternate pattern so that there is no visual difference whatever along the changeover lines in the resultant fabric.

While numerous stitch pattern modifications and sequcnces and combinations may be employed to accomplish the basic aim and purpose of the present invention in greater or less degree, the foregoing relatively simple,

tions, as between the changeover and intermediate stitches,

which give the novel and highly beneficial and useful results attendant upon a practice of the teachings of the prescnt'invention. Here again, while the specification delineates exemplary embodiments of the invention and sets forth specific examples thereof, neither such specification nor the accompanying schematic drawings are intended-to limit the scope of the present invention excepting insofar as such limitations are expressed in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figs. 1 through 4 illustrate four variations of more or less conventional changeover stitches each comprising an open loop and a closed loop;

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate two further'forms of changeover stitches each embodying two open loops;

Figs. 7 through 10 illustrate the novel intermediate stitches which, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, are used in certain prescribed combinations with the conventional changeover stitches of Figs. 1 through 6, as specified more fully hereinafter;

Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate conventional intermediate stitches, each comprisingtwo open loops, such stitches being for illustration of conventional practices only and not .as forming apart of the stitch combinations of the present invention; and

Fig. 13 is a stitch diagram of a representative fabric knit according to one invention.

In the schematic-illustrations comprising Figs. lthrough 12. the black or solid line threads represent threads of the No. 1 warp of a Simplex machine and the white or double line threads represent the threads of the No. 2 warp, the fabric being viewed from the No. 1 warpside in the drawings. It will be understood by-those-skilled-in the knitting art that the several loops illustrated-are directional, that-is, they run in agiven direction or lay in a given orientation. This direction or orientation i-s determined by the direction in which the thread is laid under the beard of the needle in forming the loop. As used herein, the foregoing expressions are synonymous; that is to "say, ,a loop is said. to be 'made'in one direction or to lay in one direction when the'same'is formed by'laying the thread under the-beard of the needle iu that direction.

In knitting fabric according to the'present invention the changeover stitches may be of any of the conventional forms illustrated in Figs. -l through 4or-of the less conventional but usable form illustrated in Figs. '-5 and 6. It will 'be'noted that-each stitchin Figs. .1 through 4 comprises anopen and a closc-d loop withthe two loops of each stitch orien-tedin opposite directions. In Figs. 5 and -6-the two open loops of each stitch are likewise form of the method of the present oriented-inoppositedirections. This orientation refers-to the direction in which the loop is inclined and has no reference to the direction in-which it is laid under the heard of the needle.

It will be noted that, in Figs. 1 through 4, the open loop is in each case the uppermost loop, that is, the loop which is at the outer face of the cloth. In Figs. 5 and 6 the loops illustrated in solid lines are uppermost and correspond to the uppermost open loops of Figs. 1 through 4in determining the direction in which the loops of intermediate stitches should be oriented to come within and give the results desired in following the teachings of the present invention. I

Depending on yarn tension machine adjustments and other factors the bright portions of the pairs of loops (the top portions of the loop as shown in the drawing) he the reverse of that illustrated in the drawings. This does not afl'ect the general scheme of the loop ar= rangements of the present invention, the critical thing being the relative positions of the lower or crossing portions of the loops of each pair.

In addition to the changeover stitch combinations of Figs. 1 through 6, it is theoretically possible to employ changeover stitches comprising two closed loops. In such case the uppermost or outer loop would correspond to the uppermost open loops of Figs, 1 through 4 in determining intermediate stitch orientation. However, the two closed loop changeover stitch variations is of little practical importance for other reasons.

We come now to the extremely important consideration of the choice of the correct intermediate stitch form to be employed with the foregoing variety of changeover stitches in proceeding in accordance with the present invention. It will be noted that each of the novel intermediate stitches of Figs. 7 through. 10 comprises an open and a closed loop. However, the intermediate stitches of Figs. 7 through 10 cannot-be combinedindiscriminately with-the changeover stitches of Figs. 1 through 6 although certain variations may be tolerated if only one side of the fabric is to be a finished side.

Either of the intermediate stitch arrangements illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 will be employed with any of the changeover stitches of Figs. 1, 2 or 5. The intermediate stitch arrangements illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 will be employed with any of the changeover stitches of Figs. 3, 4" or 6. The general principlegto be adduced from the foregoing premissible combinations may be stated as follows: 7

As to a given side of the fabric, if the closed loop of the inten'nediate stitch lays from right to left, as in the so-called white stitch of Fig. 7 or theblack stitch of Fig. 8, then the open loop of the compatible changeover stitch likewise lays from right to left, as in thewhite loop of Fig. l and the black loops of Figs. '2 and -5. In other words, the open loop of thechangeover stitch will always be in the same direction as the closed loop of the properly combined intermediate stitches. Note here-that the black loops ofFigs. 5 and 6 are considered to be the vopen-loops of these stitch combinations as noted earlier :15 and -;1-6'in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively, extendin the same direction as the threads markeclfl, .18 and 19in Figs. -3, 1 -and,6," respectively. Itwill furthermore be noted by reference to Figs. 7 through 10 that theclosed loop of each intermediate stitch combination is oriented oppos-itelydo the open loop of such combination, this being a natural result of the general knitting procedure 'DnSimplex machines. However,.when theappearance of only one side of the fabric need be considered, it would be possible to apply the teachings of the invention as to the stitches at only one side of the fabric, certain permissible stitch variations being indulged as to the other side of the fabric.

While it is believed to be well within the province of those skilled in the knitting machine art to determine the proper guide bar movements and select proper pattern wheels to produce such movements, for the formation of the open and closed loop intermediate stitch combinations of the present invention, the following is included to insure that the present disclosure is complete in every reasonable respect.

To produce intermediate st tches wherein there is onev closed loop and one open loop at a given side of the fabric the guide bar movements are modified as follows. In forming intermediate stitches of two open loops each, as is conventionally practiced, both guide bars are traversed under the beard of the needle in opposite directions but each moves continuously in the same direction. To form the open and closed loop intermediate stitch combinations of Figs. 7 through 10, that is, an open loop from one warp and a closed loop from the other warp, the open loop is formed by laying the thread under the beard of the needle in the same direction in which its corresponding guide bar is generally moving. The closed loop, on the other hand, is formed by laying the thread under the beard of the needle in the opposite direction to that in which the corresponding guide bar is generally moving.

A typical and representative fabric according to one form of the present invention is produced by following the stitch diagram depicted in Fig. l3.- In Fig. 13 the thread or yarn from the No. l warp is designated by the reference numeral 2 Sand the thread or yarn from the No. 2 warp is designated by the reference numeral 26. It will be noted that the intermediate stitches consist of alternate open and closed loops and that the changeover loops at the left-hand end of the diagram, designated 27 and 28, consist of closed loops, while the changeover loops at the right-hand end of the diagram, designated 29 and 30, comprise open loops. In following this stitch diagram on a Simplex knitting machine the open loop will be the top loop of each changeover and therefore the changeover loops formed at 29, where the No. 2 warp will be uppermost, would conform with Fig. l of the drawing, whereas the changeover loops formed at 30, where the No. 1 warp will be uppermost, will conform with Fig. 2 of the drawing.

In the intermediate stitch combination shown at the center of the stitch diagram, where the threads 25 and 2a are crossing, the closed loop of the No. 2 warp, designated 26, is uppermost, whereas the :open stitch of the No. 1 warp, designated 25, is below. Accordingly, this intermediate stitch is as depicted diagrammatically and in an enlarged manner in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

I claim:

l. A method of knitting multi-waled warp fabric on Simplex machines comprising forming a series of stitches at a face of said fabric with the guide bars of both warps moving laterally in generally opposite directions and periodically reversing the general lateral movements of said guide bars, forming changeover stitches at said face of the fabric upon reversal of said guide bars, each changeover stitch comprising a loop from each warp with one of said loops being an open loop, said series of stitches between reversals of said guide bars comprising over stitch comprising a loop from each warp with one of said loops being an open loop and the other a closed loop, said series of stitches between reversals of said guide bars comprising an open loop formed of a thread of one warp and a closed loop formed of a thread of the other warp.

3. A method of knitting warp fabric which comprises forming a series of stitches in a lateraldirection of the cloth and periodically reversing the lateral stitch forming direction and forming changeover stitches upon such reversal, each changeover stitch comprising a pair of loops with one of said loops being open and laid in a given lateral direction, the intermediate stitches formed between said reversals each comprising a pair of loops consisting of an open loop and a closed loop with said closed loop laid in the same lateral direction as the afore- 7 said open loop of the changeover stitch.

4. A method of knitting warp fabric which comprises forming a series of stitches in a lateral direction of the cloth and periodically reversing the lateral stitch forming direction and forming changeover stitches upon such reversal, each changeover stitch comprising a pair of loops with one of said loops being open, the intermediate stitches formed between said reversals each comprising a pair of loops consisting of an open loop and a closed loop.

5. A method of knitting double faced warp fabric which comprises forming a series of stitches in a lateral direction of the cloth and periodically reversing the lateral stitch forming direction, and forming changeover stitches at a face of said fabric upon such reversal, each changeover stitch comprising a pair of loops with one of said loops being closed and the other of said loops being open and laid in a given lateral direction, the intermediate stitches formed at said face of said fabric between said reversals each comprising a pair of loops consisting of an open loop and a closed loop with said closed loop laid in the same lateral direction as the aforesaid open loop of the changeover stitch.

6. A method of knitting warp fabric which comprises forming a series of stitches in a lateral direction of the cloth and periodically reversing the lateral stitch forming direction, and forming changeover stitches upon such reversal, each changeover stitch comprising a pair of loops consisting of an open loop and a closed loop with the open loop laid in a given lateral direction, the intermediate stitches formed between said reversals each comprising a pair of loops consisting of an open loop and a closed loop with the closed loop laid in the same lateral direction as the aforesaid open loop of the changeover stitch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Meinig Feb. 11, 1936 2,040,560 Meinig May 12, 1936 

